Originally Posted by econobot
Matthew
I'm not much of a cyclist, my only rides are to and from work and around the city, but I think your idea of frame shops in major cities is a great idea. I'm currently commuting on a fixed road frame conversion. It still has the shifter bosses on the downtube, the cable guides on the top tube, and a chainhanger on the right chainstay. My current options are a 3 hour drive to rural Virginia to a framebuilder out there, send my frame to Indiana -- spicer cycles, send my frame to Pennsylvania -- Spectrum, or hacksaw the brazeons myself.
While I'm all for supporting framebuilders, sending my bike off to one of these guys isn't worth it. This is my commuter; I need it for getting around. That's at least a week or so that my ride's out of commission.
In the end, it's only aesthetics, but it sure would be great to just ride down the street and not have to worry about shipping or damage in the mail.
-- Martin
Martin,
Braze-ons are super easy to remove.
Get a MAPP or Propane torch, heat them to cherry red and then snap them off quickly w/ a big plier.
Use varyning grades of sand paper to take down the remaining brass. Be sure to wrap the sandpaper around the tube to avoid flat spots.
I rode a Dawes road frame converted to fixed for a LONG time. It had a black lacquer finish that I added to each Spring during its yearly overhaul. Spray lacquer is a very good finish. It dries quickly so you can layer on a half dozen coats in a weekend. Each year the paint just got better.
Conversions are fun. You just don't care as much, so you're more relaxed about them.
And have you ever noticed the inverse relationship between the cost of a bike and how fit the rider is?